Movies (recently seen)

[Hi! My name is: Katie]

I dragged End along with me to see The Sorcerer's Apprentice. The reviews suggested it was a horrible film with no inspiration or sense of magic. Going in with my expectations low I rather enjoyed it.

The main character was terribly annoying, I really strongly disliked him. End appropriately compared him to a young Jerry Lewis. I strongly dislike Jerry Lewis, so that works for me.

Once I got past the annoying protagonist, it was a good escape from the summer heat. Don't watch the preview for the movie, they put all the good stuff in the preview, just go see it... or don't. If you want to pre-game, go watch the Sorcerer's Apprentice from Fantasia.

We also went to see Despicable Me last week. It was one of the few movies that really took advantage of what 3D can be. I loved the minions. The little girls made me want to adopt American children.

[mizal]

Yeah, Sorcerer's Apprentice was surprisingly entertaining.

...but seriously guys GO SEE INCEPTION THIS INSTANT.

I came back after a two month hiatus just to post that.

[xnull]

Eh, Inception was... alright? It was essentially The Matrix. If you liked that, see this movie. Like the Matrix, it certainly wasn't deep or insightful or even creative. And like The Matrix it had some wall walking, kung foo, giant guns, pick pocketing, grenade throwing, slow motion, alternate physics, etc. Probably enough get you off.

[ChubbyTeletubby]

New Harold and Kumar filming right now, folks!!!!

New Harold and Kumar!!!

Filming!

RIGHT NOW!

FOLKS!

yay!

Sorry. I'll go now.























Sorry. I'm sorry.

[Dragavan]

Wow... Kal Penn left his government job to come back for this movie... I am shocked, considering he left a successful and growing career in acting (including a regular spot on House) to accept the position in the first place.

[Ryan_DuBois]

I have to admit I'm excited for this. I know Christmas movies are usually the ones that fail a series for good, and I know the sequel wasn't all that great, but the original Harold and Kumar is still one of my comedy favorites.

[Dragavan]

Saw Inscription... I mean Incision... No, wait, Conception? No, umm... Inception.

What a great movie. I really enjoyed it... I will be purchasing that one placing it with Nolan's other film, Memento, on my shelf of great movies. Memento is my all time favorite film (most of the time when asked, at least). But this means Nolan will be the only one on that list twice.

I would say more, but I don't want to spoil anything for those who have not seen it yet... it's worth not being spoiled on.

[ChubbyTeletubby]

Good to hear!!!!

It looked really interesting in the previews!!!! Cool. I might have to go check this one out while it's in the theaters.

There was one scene in particular that piqued my interest. There was this sort of redundant skyline in the background that looked really creepy for some reason. It's always some small detail that draws me in. Thanks for the review, Drag.

I was wondering about it.

[End Master]

Saw Inception. (I'm late as usual)

I liked it a lot more than I thought I would. I didn't have high hopes for it since everyone seemed to say it was like The Matrix. The only similarities with the Matrix was the wall walking/slow motion stuff which they use in a lot of movies nowadays anyway. I thought it was more like Total Recall to be honest. (Both of which are way better movies than the Matrix)

Spoiler for those that have also seen Shutter Island...

Not that these movies are related, but I briefly entertained the far fetched idea that all the stuff that happened in Inception was in the mind of DiCaprio's character who got lobotomized in the end of Shutter Island.

[Ryan_DuBois]

Well, after hours of fighting dinosaurs and doing side-quests, I finally climbed up the tower and bitch-slapped Kefka (using Ultima magic, of course).

It was definitely good, but I still like FF7 better, and maybe even SMRPG. Impressive stuff, though. The music in it was great (to be expected), the characters were fleshed out (with a few exceptions, like Mog and that mime-freak-weirdo who lives in the caves), and there were a lot of memorable scenes (I loved the opening with the magitek suits marching through the snow, and the whole opera fiasco).

The best thing about it, was probably Kefka and his eccentricity. Do I like him as much as good old Sephiroth, though? Nope!



Kefka was the more lively character, but Sephiroth was just this innately talented, smart, principled, and enigmatic being. Sometimes you admired him, sometimes you felt bad for him, and sometimes you were intimidated by him.
Kekfa, by comparison was just totally out of his mind and wanted to ruin everything (he too, was pretty smart, though). He was easy to simply hate.

My favorite character from the party was probably Celes -- the opera and the scene where she was deserted on the island after the apocalyse appealed to me in some weird way.

Anyway, next on the list -- "Chrono Trigger"!

[Usoki]

I have to admit, there's something to be said for playing games after they've been released for years- you don't suffer from nostalgia-bias. I, too, prefer Celes over Terra, though most people would rather have her and Locke. And for whatever reason, I also enjoyed Gau, even if he was an impractical character. What I will say for Kefka, though, is that the back-fired experiment which made him insane also made him the most unique villain. He has no motivation beyond chaos. He's not bitter or inhuman or cold or fulfilling a prophecy. He just does what he wants. And in the end, he's arguably the most effective villain in the series. Yes, the ending defeats his reign of terror. But the massive world-shift cataclysm isn't reversed, repaired, or even lessened. You defeat Kefka... but not his plans.

By the way, you should take Sabin, Gau, Edgar, and Locke to the house... near the Veldt? Anyway, there's a hilarious extra scene involving Gau's father, but you have to take those exact four to the house in the NE to get the full scene.

I personally enjoy SMRPG over FF7, but that's mostly nostalgia bias. That, and I appreciate humor over plot and function. Still, having Yuffie in the party makes much of the game that much better. I considered Cait Sith, but the only thing funny about him is his appearance. In the end, I went with Tifa. And, honestly, I found Sephiroth to be an overrated villain. I found his characterization and motivation to be too much of a stretch.

Chrono Trigger's another one of those games that people freak out if you've never played it. And...yeah, I can see where they're coming from. It was a pretty awesome plotline, with some great characters. And I also appreciated that there were no noticable character tier rankings. People still get into arguments about the best party to use- and unlike the FFs, there's no clear answer.

EarthBound, though... that shit was terrible. I collected three out of eight whatever-the-hells to see if it would pick up, but it never really did. There's no escaping the fact that Ness of notable Smash Bros fame comes from a shitty game.

[Ryan_DuBois]

Haha, damn! I just downloaded Earthbound a few minutes ago, too!

Anyway, I definitely agree that nostalgia makes games seem way better. SMRPG was probably the first RPG I played, too, followed by FF7, so I've got a definite bias on those two. Man SMRPG... it just makes me feel good!

I remember playing the first castle part at the beginning couple times (this before I even really knew about RPG games), and thinking the game seemed kinda lame. Then one day I got so bored I finally went a little further and... man.

Anyway.

My thumbs are STILL sore from all those super jumps!

Anyway.

I downloaded "A Link to the Past", too, so I'll see how it all goes.

Concerning FF3/6...

I figured there was some special scene! I know that dude's Gau's dad, but that's all I know so far. I can't say I liked Gau myself, but he was aight'. I'll check it out.

Apart from Celes, I liked Edgar, Mog, Shadow, Terra, and... Umaro? The one who grunts? Ya. Personality-wise, anyway.

I didn't like Locke very much, at all. He seemed too much like a... "nice boy"? I think you know what I mean. Someone who isn't very smart or tough or rough, but always tries to be nice. Plus he was a damned treasure-stealer! I also didn't like the grandpa and his girl. The other characters were okay.

For Kefka, I basically agree. And I still think he's a great villain. Kinda reminds of The Joker actually, although I'm sure he's already been compared to
The Joker like a million times already. And I agree that Sephiroth's motivation (finding out he was basically lab rat or whatever it was) shouldn't have really been enough to push him over the edge. Aside from that, though... I just remember how strong the Midgar snake seemed in that one swamp, and then you get across to other side to find that Sephiroth has effortlessly impaled one on a stick. And then there was that battle where you see Cloud do like 100 damage and Sephiroth does like 9999.

He just seemed impossible to beat.

Anyway, it's like 4:00 in the morning. I'm droning on.

[Locke]

Loved Chrono Trigger/Cross. I was never heavily into RPGs, but those were favorites.

[Ryan_DuBois]

Yes, I like it a lot so far. One thing that bothered me in the few Final Fantasy games I've played (it especially frustrated me in the caverns of FF3 for some reason) was the random battles. Not that it's a huge deal or anything (especially once you find a moogle charm, etc.), but I'm glad that Chrono Trigger has enemies that you fight more-or-less by choice, kinda like SMRPG.

[Ryan_DuBois]

This is probably pointless now, but I saw "Inception" with my brother and we both liked it. The only bad thing was that we missed like the first four minutes, so when we started watching it, it was like this crazy-ass dream.

Didn't take long to catch on, though.

Sorta like "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" meets "The Matrix" meets "Bride of Chucky". If you catch my drift. The visuals were just sweet.

Every time I see that Scarecrow guy, he reminds me of The Scarecrow, though.